r K o (;  I-:  j<:  d i n ci  s 


or  THK 

AMERICAN  LYCEUM. 

NOVEMBER  AND  DECEMBER,  1832. 

WOS.  V.  & VI. 


School  Discipline. 

Essay  on  School  Discipline,  read  before  the  American  Lyceum,  May 

5tii,  1832. 

By  John  Guiscom. 


Published  by  order  of  the  Lyceum.. 

The  subject  assigned  to  me,  in  the  exercises  of  the  present  Anni- 
versary, as  I find  it  on  the  minutes  of  last  year,  is  comprehended  in 
two  words — ‘ School  Discipline.’ 

In  reflecting  for  a moment  on  the  nature  of  the  duty  thus  prescribed, 
it  seems  important  to  inquire  into  the  meaning,  both  literal  and  fig- 
urative,— of  the  term  Discipline.  Derived  as  it  is,  from  the  Latin 
Disco,  to  learn,  it  has  been  employed  by  the  masters  of  eloquence,  in 
ancient  and  modern  language,  with  a latitude  of  application,  corres- 
pondent with  the  necessity  which  men  have  felt  of  becoming  acquaint- 
ed with  their  duties,  in  all  the  diversified  conviction  of  their  mental 
and  physical  existence.  Hence  the  terms  Disciplina,  and  Discipline, 
may  be  considered,  in  the  various  uses  to  which  they  have  been  appli- 
ed, as  synonymous  with  Instruction,  Government,  Law,  Science,  Cor- 
rection, Chastisement,  Moral  Order,  Religion,  and  other  terms  of 
analogous  import.  Justified  by  such  an  extent  of  meaning,  I might, 
perhaps,  consider  myself  at  liberty,  to  ‘ expatiate  free  o’er  all  that 
scene,’  which  the  nature  of  Education  and  Schools,  would  readily 
present.  Persuaded,  however,  that  this  would  not  be  compatible 
with  a due  regard  to  the  patience  of  my  audience,  or  the  benefit  of 
our  cause,  and  warned  by  the  fact  that  numerous  and  valuable  Essays 
on  Schools  and  Instruction,  have  recently  issued  from  the  presses  of 
Europe  and  America,  I shall  limit  my  remarks  to  such  branches  of 
the  subject  as  arise  most  prominently  before  me,  and  accord  most 
fully  with  my  own  experience. 

That  the  judicious  regulation  and  government  of  schools,  is  a vital 
part  of  civil  polity,  and  that  it  ought  to  claim  far  more  attention  than 
it  receives  from  lawgivers  and  philanthropists,  will  be  admitted,  I 
5 


34 


School  Discipline. 


trust,  by  all  who  are  acquainted  with  the  state  of  practical  education 
in  this  and  in  other  countries.  If  the  welfare  of  society  is  really  con- 
nected with  the  diffusion  of  learning, — if  schools  are  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  a nation’s  growth  and  elevation  in  all  that  adds  dignity  to 
national  existence, — if  they  contribute  to  family  enjoyment, — to  the 
delights  of  social  intercourse, — to  the  preservation  of  morals, — to  the 
interests  of  religion, — then,  assuredly,  ought  schools  to  be  rendered 
universally,  not  only  thoroughly  efficient  in  the  communication  of 
knowledge,  and  the  right  training  of  the  juvenile  mind,  but  they 
should,  to  the  utmost  practical  extent,  be  made  attractive  and  delight- 
ful. Indeed,  the  latter  quality  is,  in  a great  measure,  essential  to  the 
former, — for(it  is  evidently  a law  of  our  being,  that  we  can,  and  do, 
from  infancy  to  old  age,  pursue  most  successfully  those  objects  which 
yield  us  pleasure  in  the  pursuit.  In  the  early  stages  of  pupilage,  it 
is  more  especially  important  that  the  paths  of  learning  be  strewed 
with  allurements, — that  the  nursery  and  the  domestic  circle  be  will- 
ingly exchanged  for  the  school  room  and  its  classes,  and  the  future 
man  be  drawn  cheerfully  and  effectually  into  the  folds  of  learning, 
and  gradually  inured  to  that  intellectual  labor,  without  which,  neither 
the  depths  of  learning  nor  the  heights  of  science  can  ever  be  attained. 

The  time  has  been,  when  the  general  fault  of  schools  was  a severity 
and  monotony  of  discipline,  which  rendered  them  absolutely  and 
frightfully  repulsive  to  the  feelings  of  childhood.  The  lessons  which 
^children  were  compelled  to  study,  were  wrapt  in  language  so  unin- 
telligible, as  to  divest  them  of  all  attraction,  and  the  physical  re- 
straints to  which  the  young  pupils  were  compelled  to  submit,  were  so 
irksome  to  the  natural  activity  of  youth,  as  to  occasion  the  name  of 
schools  and  lessons  to  become  the  bugbear  of  the  nursery.  In  these 
respects  there  has  been  of  late  years,  at  least  in  this  country,  a great 
^amelioration.  Who  now,  that  witnesses  the  hilarity  and  sparkling 
intelligence  of  a good  infant  school,  docs  not  believe  that  if  he  had  i 
been  thus  initiated  in  the  mysteries  of  knowledge,  his  attachment  to  ! 
learning  would  have  been  more  early  and  effectually  secured  ? 

There  is  danger,  however,  on  the  right  hand  as  well  as  on  the  left. 

It  is  possible  so  to  flatter  the  senses  and  the  fancies  of  children  as  to 
excite  a continual  appetite  for  the  mere  play  of  the  mind,  and  so  to 
render  the  exercises  of  a school  a matter  of  social  amusement,  as  to 
create  a disrelish  for  the  essential  business  of  abstract  study,  and  close 
individual  application.  Every  judicious  teacher  will  therefore  en- 
deavor to  avoid  the  two  extremes,  of  a dull  and  rigid  formality  on  the 
one  hand, — and,  on  the  other,  of  implanting  the  habit  of  a merely 
superficial  attention  to  those  things  which  cultivate  the  imagination 
at  the  expense  of  the  reasoning  powers. 

Among  the  different  heads  under  which  the  Discipline  of  Schools 
may  be  regarded,  we  may  consider,  as  of  primary  importance,  the 
relation  which  ought  to  subsist  between  teachers  and  employers.  It 
is  probable  that  by  far  the  greater  number  of  schools  in  this  country, 
particularly  in  the  northern  and  middle  States,  is  under  the  dircc- 


I 


t 

V 

School  Discipline.  35 

tion  of  trustees,  or  committees  appointed  by  the  inliabitarits  of  the 
district  or  neighborhood,  wlio  are  the  proi)rictors  of  the  buiJding  in 
wliicli  the  scliool  is  licld,  Tlie  trustees  are,  generally,  invested  with 
power  to  employ  or  dismiss  the  teacher,  and  to  prescribe  rules  for 
ins  government.  While  therefore  it  is  expected,  that  the  teacher 
shali  be  solely  responsible  for  the  good  management  of  the  school,  and 
the  improvement  of  the  children  in  all  their  studies,  he  is  himself 
under  the  control  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  is  perpetually  liable  to 
their  animadversions.  He  feels  this  restraint,  and  unless  he  receives 
from  them  an  open-handed  and  liberal  course  of  treatment,  it  is 
scarcely  possible  for  him  to  allow  the  energies  of  his  character  to 
gain  their  full  developement,  and  to  acquire  that  ascendancy  over  the 
minds  of  his  pupils  which  is  essential  to  their  rapid  improvement,  and 
to  the  good  discipline  of  his  school.  Disputes  between  school  com- 
mittees and  teachers  is  a very  common  source  of  misgovernment, 
and  insubordination,  and  failure.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  fault 
does  not  often  lie  in  the  mismanagement  and  disqualification  of  the 
master.  Too  many  there  are  by  far,  who  undertake  the  responsible 
duties  of  a school  master,  with  a most  defective  amount  of  learning, 
patience,  self-government,  and  personal  address; — and  with  a re- 
dundant share  of  conceit,  obstinacy,  or  vanity.  It  appears  to  be  a 
very  general  impression  among  us,  that  the  most  serious  and  prevail- 
ing obstacle  to  the  advancement  of  education,  is  the  great  deficiency 
of  qualified  teachers.  But,  if  I am  not  mistaken  in  my  estimate  of 
the  causes  of  failure  in  schools,  which  often  promise  well  in  the  be- 
ginning, thefe  is  quite  as  great  a deficiency  in  the  requisite  number 
of  well  qualified  trustees  of  schools.  „ 

These  defects  are  as  various  as  the  varying  tempers,  manners,  and 
dispositions  of  men.  But  a very  general  source  of  disqualification  in 
school  committees  is  a frigid  indifference  to  the  concerns  of  the 
school,  and  to  the  comfort  and  encouragement  of  the  teachers.  Visits 
to  the  school  are  seldom  paid, — examination  of  the  scholar’s  progress 
rarely  made  with  the  needful  patience  and  discrimination, — the 
difficulties  which  the  teacher  has  to  encounter  from  the  obstinacy, 
ill  temper,  or  unreasonableness  of  parents  and  children  are  too  fre- 
quently neglected,  or  contemned, — and,  instead  of  interposing  their 
influence  in  the  rectification  of  the  mistakes  and  prejudices  which 
parents  are  so  apt  to  fall  into  from  the  incorrect  representation  of 
their  children,  and  in  the  manifest^ion  of  sympathy  for  one  to 
whom  they  have  committed  so  difficirf|t  and  important  a trust, — the 
influence  of  committees  is  too  often  exhibited  only  in  the  exercise  of 
authority  over  the  master  hims^f.  I cannot  perceive  how  it  is  possi- 
ble, for  a person  who  holds  the  office  of  trustee  of  a school,  to  be  able 
to  fulfil  with  entire  advantage,  the  duties  which  appertain  to  that  sta- 
tion, without  such  frequent  visits  to  the  school,  as  shall  enable  him  to 
discover  with  certainty  the  particular  habits  and  qualifications  of  the 
teacher, — his  mode  of  classifying  and  imparting  instruction, — the 
spirit  which  animates  him  in  his  government, — and,  if  the  school  be 


36 


School  Discipline. 


not  very  large, — the  names  and  characters  of  some  of  the  best, — and 
some  of  the  most  unmanageable  of  his  pupils.  A trustee  who  is  thus 
attentive  to  his  appointment,  has  it  in  his  power  to  interpose  most 
effectually  between  the  teacher  and  those  parents  who  conceive  un- 
favorable  impressions  of  his  ability  or  government  from  the  partial 
statements  of  their  children.  He  may,  by  timely  and  judicious  ad- 
monition to  the  one  or  the  other,  restore  the  feelings  of  alienated 
friendship,  rectify  the  errors  of  domestic  government,  strengthen 
the  hands  of  the  master,  improve  his  qualifications,  and  elevate  the 
character  of  the  institution  over  which  he  is  the  appointed  guardian. 
It  is  scarcely  possible,  perhaps,  for  a person  to  form  a just  conception 
of  the  nature  of  such  services,  who  has  not  had  some  practical  ex- 
perience in  the  difficulty  of  governing  a school.  But  where  shall 
men  be  found  possessed  of  such  qualifications, — or,  if  possessing 
them,  who  can  afford  the  time, — or  who  are  disposed,  con  amort,  to 
bestow  such  services  as  these  ? Such  men  do,  indeed,  occasionally 
appear; — but,  a John  Wood  is  almost  as  rare  a philanthropist,  as  a 
John  Howard.  The  one  has  produced  a reformation  in  prisons; — 
the  other  is  working,  we  trust,  in  Scotland,  and  indirectly  in  other 
countries, — a reform  of  as  great  importance  in  the  management  of 
schools. 

‘ Wherever  a seminary,  (observes  this  writer  in  his  excellent  ac- 
count of  the  Edinburgh  Sessional  School.)  is  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Directors,  its  success  or  failure,  may,  in  a great  measure  de- 
pend upon  the  manner  on  which  they  discharge  their  important  duties. 
By  cold  indifference  on  the  one  hand,  they  may,  to  a certain  degree, 
damp  the  ardor,  even  of  the  most  jealous  teacher.  By  officious  in- 
terference, on  the  other,  they  may  paralyze  his  best  exertions.’ 

The  prevailing  errors  with  respect  to  the  duties  of  a trusteeship  of 
schools,  appear  to  lie  in  this, — that  men  who  accept  this  appointment, 
often,  perhaps  reluctantly,  not  having  a right  perception  of  the  nature 
and  true  spirit  of  the  office,  and  yet  feeling  themselves  clothed 
with  authority,  are  disposed  to  legislate  within  their  sphere.  They 
form  opinions  of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  teacher  on  vague  in- 
formation. They  are  swayed  in  their  judgments  without  a due  in- 
vestigation of  facts,  and  thus  difficulties  and  disorders,  which  might 
have  found  a perfect  remedy,  if  judiciously  treated,  become  at  length 
uncontrollable,  and  end  in  the  disruption  of  tlie  school. 

It  would  be  unreasonable  t® •expect  that  there  are  many  men  to  be 
found,  who  have  sufiicient  leisure,  and  who  possess  the  requisite  dis- 
positions, thus  to  take  upon  themselves  the  guardianship  of  a school ; 
and  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find,  that  there  are  many  towns  and 
neighborhoods,  wdierc  not  one  sucli  individual  would  present  himself 
to  notice.  The  benefits  which  trustees  of  riglit  qualifications  may 
confer  upon  the  institutions  under  their  patronage,  are  incalculable. 
They  form  a connecting  medium  between  teachers  and  parents,  and 
their  friendly  suggestions  will  be  listened  to,  when  prejudice  or 
passion  has  almost  stifled  the  corre.spondence  between  those  on 


School  Discipline. 


37 


whose  cordial  intcrcourso  the  welfare  and  improvement  of  tlic  cliihi 
so  much  depend.  'Phe  mistakes  and  incapacity  of  teachers  may  not, 
in  many  cases,  admit  of  remedy.  Tlicir  want  of  self  government, 
may  alienate  tlie  regard  of  children  and  parents  ; but  these  and  other 
indiscretions  often  arise  from  the  absence  of  that  experience  with 
the  world,  and  knowledge  of  human  nature,  which  to  many  persons 
are  of  slow  and  difficult  attainment.  But  this  deficiency  is  not  incom- 
patible with  many  other  redeeming  qualities,  and  by  a little  of  the 
kind  interposition  of  committees,  the  qualifications  of  many  a teacher 
may  be  enhanced,  and  his  talent  cultivated,  and  his  services  may 
be  retained,  and  he  may  become  the  ornament  of  a profession,  which 
notwithstanding  its  matchless  importance  to  the  community,  numbers 
so  few,  comparatively,  who  are  accomplished  in  the  multifarious  du- 
ties which  it  necessarily  imposes. 

But  how  unfortunate  is  the  condition  of  that  school  which  is  under 
the  control  of  a board  of  trustees  who  have  neither  the  time  nor  the 
inclination  to  bestow  upon  it  that  parental  and  conciliatory  agency 
to  which  we  have  alluded.  Dependent  upon  their  favor,  and  subject 
to  their  laws,  yet  unaided  by  their  counsels  or  encouragement,  the 
teacher  of  such  a school  dwells  in  an  atmosphere  of  mist,  which  he  is 
unable  to  dispel.  His  proceedings  are  liable  to  continued  misrepre- 
sentation,— his  judgment  is  constrained, — he  is  not  the  master  of  his 
own  powers.  His  discipline  will  be  accused  by  some  of  undue 
severity,  by  others  of  too  great  laxity, — with  some  he  will  be  a decided 
favorite, — and  by  others  he  will  be  disliked,  while  his  efforts  may  be 
conscientiously  directed  to  the  impartial  discharge  of  all  his  duties. 

It  would  therefore,  I conceive,  be  a point  gained  in  favor  of  the 
good  discipline  of  those  schools  which  are  under  the  direction  of 
trustees,  few,  if  any  of  whom,  have  it  in  their  power  to  bestow  much 
attention  upon  it,  if  the  teacher  were  considered  as  a member  of  their 
board,  and  allowed  to  take  part  in  their  deliberations  and  decisions. 
No  one  can  possibly  be  so  well  acquainted  with  the  circumstances  of 
the  school  as  he,  or  be  so  well  qualified  to  offer  explanations,  and  to 
suggest  the  best  means  for  the  removal  of  difficulties.  A candid  and 
open  line  of  treatment  toward  him,  would  thus  be  secured,  and 
various  causes  of  disaffection  be  at  once  removed.  He  would  derive 
encouragement  or  admonition  from  the  observations  of  his  equals  in 
authority,  and  a wider  channel  of  communication  with  parents  would 
be  established.  On  questions,  involving  his  own  immediate  interests, 
or  reputation,  he  would  naturally  decline  to  attend,  or  would  other- 
wise act  as  discretion  or  decorum  should  dictate. 

I have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  this  topic,  from  a persuasion  that 
the  cause  of  education  sustains  much  injury,  and  that  the  prosperity 
of  schools  is  much  impeded,  from  the  want  of  a greater  reciprocity  o 
sentiment  and  feeling  between  trustees  and  teachers.  Complaints 
of  this  nature  are  everywhere  heard ; and  better,  in  general,  would  it 
be  that  teachers  should  be  left  to  their  own  enterprize  and  be  respon- 
sible only  to  the  parents  of  their  scholars,  than  be  subject  to  the 


38 


School  Discipline. 

direction  of  school  committees  who  have  not  the  time  or  the  ability  to 
act  the  part  of  faithful  and  enlightened  guardians  of  the  charge  com- 
mitted to  them. 

But  with  respect  to  the  discipline  of  schools  ; — whatever  may 
be  the  external  advantages  with  which  they  are. favored,  unless  the 
mind  of  a teacher  be  itself  well  disciplined,  his  school  cannot  exhibit 
the  perfection  of  order  and  good  government.  The  fountain  of  all 
true  authority  in  schools,  is  that  unfailing  benevolence  which  cannot 
be  subdued  or  depressed  by  misconduct  or  ingratitude, — that  untiring 
solicitude  for  the  happiness  and  improvement  of  every  scholar,  which 
puts  forth  its  manifestations  in  almost  every  look  and  action  ; and  by 
its  almost  insensible,  but  powerful  influence,  works  its  way  into  every 
mind.  There  is  indeed  much,  in  the  employment  of  a teacher,  to  damp 
the  ardor  of  his  benevolence.  The  volatility,  and  the  obduracy,  the 
dullness  and  the  mischievousness  which  are  almost  surely  to  be  found 
in  a school  of  considerable  numbers,  make  continued  drafts  upon 
the  kindness  of  the  master,  and  will  oft  times  exhaust  it,  unless  the 
fund  be  inexhaustible.  But,  if  he  possess  that  depth  of  good  sense 
and  good  feeling,  which  enables  him  to  regard  all  these  errors  of 
childhood,  as  diseases  of  the  mind,  as  incidental  to  human  nature, 
as  a constitutional  head-ache  or  a defect  of  vision,  is  to  the  body,  and 
as  requiring  an  equal  share  of  patience  and  skill  iti  the  removal  of 
them  ; the  evidence  of  this  skill  and  judgment  will,  in  time,  come  to 
be  universally  acknowledged  by  his  juvenile  patients,  and  he  will 
thus  acquire  an  unbounded  empire  over  their  good  opinions,  and 
secure  most  effectually  their  obedience  to  his  prescriptions. 

It  needs  scarcely  perhaps  be  observed,  that  how  favorable  soever 
may  be  the  natural  temperament  of  a teacher  for  the  exercise  of 
patience,  in  a persevering  endurance  of  opposition  to  reasonable  au- 
thority,‘there  is  nothing  which  can  so  effectually  secure  him  in  the 
possession  of  that  powerful  virtue,  as  a pervading  sense  of  religious 
obligation.  What  consideration  or  principle  can  so  thoroughly  fortify 
the  mind  against  the  discouragement  of  obstinacy  and  ingratitude, 
and  all  the  baser  propensities  which  children  may  bring  with  them 
from  ill-governed  families,  as  a conviction,  that  although  we  are 
laboring  upon  a stubborn  soil,  we  may  nevertheless  be  successful  not 
only  in  eradicating  plants  of  noxious  growth,  but  in  cultivating  those 
which  are  destined  to  bloom  through  all  futurity?  Every  teacher 
whose  mind  is  imbued  with  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity,  is  a gospel 
agent,  who  looks  to  the  end  of  his  ministration,  only  through  the  vista 
of  revolving  ages;  and  whose  toil  is  cheered  by  the  celestial  illumin- 
ations which  break  through  the  gloom  of  his  darkest  hours.  And 
wherever  this  spirit  is  tlie  presiding  genius  of  the  discipline  of  a 
school,  it  will  scarcely  fail  to  melt  down  the  bulwarks  of  opposition, 
and  subject  everything  to  its  peaceable  dominion. 

Just  in  proportion,  then,  as  the  minds  of  teachers  can  be  brought 
into  the  discipline  of  that  excellent  charity,  which  ‘ suflereth  long 
and  is  kind,  which  is  not  easily  provoked,  which  thinketh  no  evil, 


1 


School  Discipline.  39 

which  beareth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things,’  and, 
^ ‘which  never  faileth,’ — in  the  same  proportion  will  the  obstacles  to 
a perfect  government  of  schools  be  found  to  subside,  and  a Christian 
influence  be  diffused  through  the  land. 

But  with  the  best  moral  dispositions  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  aided 
by  consentaneous  movements  in  parents  and  trustees,  are  there 
not  certain  internal  regulations, — modes  of  classification  and  govern- 
ment,— which  greatly  facilitate  the  good  discipline  of  schools?  All 
experience  must  reply  in  the  affirmative.  A school  has  sometimes 
been  regarded  as  an  epitome  of  a State.  Without  system,  and  law, 
disorder  would  soon  triumph  over  the  best  intentions  of  the  rulers, 
and  paralyze  all  their  efforts  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  governed. 
But  in  schools  as  well  as  in  states — laws  are  more  cheerfully  obeyed 
when  accompanied  with  a general  conviction  of  their  utility  and  just 
adaptation  to  the  general  welfare.  Various  attempts  have  latterly  been 
made  to  introduce  into  schools  a kind  of  republican  system  of  self- 
government,  in  which  the  boys  elect  from  their  own  number,  judges, 
magistrates,  sheriffs,  advocates,  &/C.,  and  condemn  the  disorderly  by 
jury  trial,  reserving  however,  to  the  master  an  appeal  in  the  last  re- 
sort, and  submitting  the  whole  to  his  decision.  The  most  remarkable 
example  of  this  kind  of  discipline  which  has  fallen  within  my  notice, 
is  described  in  a volume  entitled,  ‘ Plans  for  the  government,  and 
liberal  instruction  of  boys  in  large  numbers,  as  practised  at  Hazle- 
wood  school.’  This  institution  is  situated  near  Birmingham,  and 
the  proprietors  have  since  established  a similar  one  in  the  vicinity  of 
London.  The  work  is  well  written,  and  has  been  favorably  criticised 
in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  and  in  the  American  Journal  of  Educa- 
tion. In  a second  edition,  the  authors  after  three  years  experience 
remark,  ‘ that  with  one  or  two  unimportant  exceptions,  all  we  have 
done  has  been  to  extend  the  principles  on  which  we  originally  set  out, 
and  not  to  change  them.  Of  the  modes  in  which  those  principles 
have  been  carried  into  practice  we  cannot  soy  quite  so  mucli.'  It  is 
probable,  from  this  last  expression,  that  the  apparatus  of  courts  and 
bailiffs,  and  prosecutions,  has  been  found  rather  too  cumbrous  for  a 
school.  All,  that  could  be  expected  from  it,  in  point  of  discipline, 
would  be  to  exempt  the  masters  of  the  school  from  any  and  every 
imputation  of  unfairness  in  the  infliction  of  penalties  for  breaches  of 
order.  It  is  undoubtedly  of  great  importance,  that  there  should  be  a 
general  impression  on  the  mind  of  a school,  that  the  decisions  of  the 
master  are  always  the  result  of  a sound  and  impartial  judgment,  and 
as  the  pupils  increase  in  age  this  conviction  becomes  the  more  neces- 
sary. Now  it  is  a truth,  of  which  I think  the  experience  of  every 
discreet  teacher,  who  has  given  it  atrial,  will  attest  the  certainty,  that 
whenever  the  unsophisticated  judgments  of  scholars,  on  matters  fully 
within  the  scope  of  their  understandings  is  fairly  appealed  to,  their 
decisions  are  given  with  the  utmost  candor  and  honesty.  I have 
known,  in  numerous  instances  not  only  the  question  of  guilty  or  not 
guilty,  but  also  the  nature  and  amount  of  punishment,  referred  to  a 


40 


School  Discipline. 


jury,  one  half  of  which  has  been  selected  by  the  culprit  himself;  and 
in  every  instance  witliin  my  recollection  the  verdict  has  been  such 
as  would  have  done  honor  to  men  of  mature  and  penetrating  minds. 
If  there  is  any  error,  it  leans,  in  general,  to  the  side  of  severity  against 
the  violation  of  known  and  established  laws.  A jury  of  his  peers 
will  also  investigate  the  circumstances  of  a charge  against  a student, 
and  examine  witnesses,  with  greater  accuracy,  or  with  more  of  tact, 
than  most  men  would  do  who  are  not  very  familiar  with  the  habits 
and  feelings  of  boys.  I cannot  therefore  but  believe,  that  as  one  of 
the  means  by  which  the  discipline  of  a school,  and  more  especially 
of  a college,  may  be  the  most  effectually  supported,  particularly  in 
cases  wherein  the  guilt,  or  the  right  kind  of  punishment  is  a matter 
of  doubt,  a reference  of  the  case  to  a jury  may  be  safely  recommended. 
To  do  this  on  frequent  or  trivial  occasions,  would  occupy  too  much 
time ; nor  would  it  be  advisable  that  the  authorities  of  a school  or 
college  should  be  bound  to  yield,  in  any  case,  their  absolute  powers. 
But  to  receive  a sentence  of  condemnation  from  a jury  of  his  fellows 
adds  greatly  to  the  humiliation  of  a student,  and  that  heart  must  be 
made  of  rebellious  stuff,  that  does  not  quail  under  such  a judgment. 
By  the  occasional  delegation  therefore  of  authority  to  such  a tribunal, 
the  head  or  heads  of  an  Institution  of  learning  may,  it  is  conceived, 
add  to  their  influence,  and  strengthen  the  discipline  of  their  estab- 
lishment. 

Connected  with  the  subject  of  the  government  of  schools  by  the 
agency  of  the  scholars  themselves,  and  with  the  subjects  of  school 
discipline  in  general,  stands  the  question  of  monitorial  tuition.  It  must 
be  admitted,  that  so  far  as  monitors,  selected  from  the  more  advanced 
scholars,  can  be  employed  with  advantage  in  a school,  the  use  of 
them,  under  right  management,  is  favorable  to  discipline ; for  every 
good  monitor  becomes  interested  in  the  preservation  of  order,  and  is 
invested,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  with  a certain  portion  of  authority  in 
preventing  the  violations  of  it  by  others.  The  feeling  of  responsibility 
into  which  the  appointment  to  this  trust  introduces  the  young  officer, 
cannot  fail  to  produce  in  his  mind  a sense  of  the  importance  of  self- 
government  to  which  he  may  before  have  been  a stranger  ; — and  it  is 
truly  refreshing  to  observe,  how  often  this  operates  to  the  correction 
of  his  own  errors,  and  with  what  a manly  sensibility  and  devotedness, 
even  very  young  monitors  will  address  themselves  to  their  sphere  of 
duty. 

I would  not  now  be  considered  as  advocating  the  system  of  moni- 
torial instruction,  as  a specific  system  of  school  government,  any  fur- 
ther than  to  show  its  connection  with  the  moral  discipline  of  a school. 
That  its  natural  tendency  is  to  inculcate  the  necessity  of  a restraint 
upon  the  turbulent  and  mischievous  propensities  of  youth,  I have  not 
the  least  doubt,  and  my  own  observation  would  lead  me  to  believe  that 
in  a school  of  500  lioys  well  regulated  under  a plan  of  monitorial  sujicr- 
intendence,  there  would  be  less  (|uarrelling,  noise,  turbulence,  bad 
language,  or  ill  manners  of  any  kind,  than  is  usually  witnessed  in  a 
school  of  40,  which  has  no  other  supervision  than  that  of  the  teacher. 


School  Dibcijjline. 


41 


JVlucli  may  be  dune  by  ins})iriiiir  cliildrcn  with  tin;  love  of  wjcial 
order, — inducing  tliein  to  regard  the  presence  of  each  other  as  an 
incitement  to  polite  and  gentlemanly  conduct, — instead  of  an  in- 
centive to  deeds  of  foolisli  bravery  and  mischief, — and  I would  beg 
leave  to  add  very  pointedly,  my  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  method 
explained  by  Jacob  Abbott,  in  his  lecture  on  ‘ Moral  Education,’ 
delivered  belbre  the  American  Institute  of  Instruction,  at  its  annual 
meeting,  held  at  Boston,  in  1831.  This  lecture  is  contained  in  the 
volume  of  printed  lectures,  delivered  at  that  session  of  the  Institute. 
The  great  object  of  this  method  is  to  encourage  that  deep  and  invin- 
cible regard  for  candor  and  truth,  which  will  induce  children  and* 
young  persons  to  confess  their  owii  faults,  and  not  to  connive  at 
or  conceal  the  faults  of  others,  when  the  good  of  the  school  requires 
an  exposure  of  them.  The  instruments  by  which  the  moral  sense  of 
children  is  then  strengthened  and  ennobled  are  love,  kindness,  and 
moral  suasion.  For  the  method  of  proceeding,  I must  refer  to  the 
lecture  itself.  When  this  sincere  regard  for  truth  and  honesty  is 
once  established,  and  becomes  the  prevailing  temper  of  the  school,  the 
business  of  disciplinary  government  is  an  easy  affair,  and  a teacher’s 
task  is  lightened  of  half  its  burden. 

The  subject  of  school  discipline  might  very  naturally  lead  me, 
were  it  admissible  so,  to  prolong  the  time  of  this  lecture, — to  an  in- 
quiry into  the  modes  of  promoting  habits  of  industry  and  close  ap- 
plication,— and  of  course  into  the  debatable  question  of  the  expediency 
or  inexpediency  of  emulation. 

But  few  subjects  in  relation  to  education,  have  been  argued,  of  late 
years,  with  more  zeal,  than  the  advantage  or  disadvantage  of  making 
use  of  this  principle  in  our  seminaries  of  learning.  The  time  has 
been  when  emulation  was  almost  universally  considered  as  an  indis- 
pensable stimulus  to  the  industry  of  youth.  And  at  the  present  time 
the  advocates  of  emulation  appear  to  take  the  ground,  that  those 
who  oppose  it  and  who  profess  to  dispense  with  it  altogether  in  their 
practice,  do  not  understand  the  meaning  of  the  term,  and  are  all  the 
while  rendering  the  thing  itself  subservient  to  their  cause.  This  dis- 
crepancy of  views  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  the  principle,  may 
have  led  into  some  mistakes.  Some  who  think  they  have  discarded 
it  entirely,  may  be  insensibly  availing  themselves  of  its  indirect  in- 
fluence upon  the  minds  of  their  eleves ; while  others,  in  the  open  and 
undisguised  employment  of  it,  may  inculcate  sentiments  which  raise 
the  minds  of  their  youth  far  above  all  the  degrading  and  injurious 
influences  of  mere  personal  strife.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  a question, 
whether  in  the  pursuit  of  any  valuable  intellectual,  or  moral  attain- 
ments, we  can  possibly  divest  ourselves  entirely  of  a tacit  compatison 
of  ourselves  with  others,  and  of  deriving  a portion  of  encouragement, 
not  to  say  self-congratulation,  from  the  belief  that  we  are  approaching 
to  the  standard  of  some,  and  surpassing  that  of  others,  in  knowledge 
and  goodness.  If  this  feeling  is  essentially  interwoven  with  our 
nature, — if  its  effect  is  to  animate  us  in  our  efforts  either  of  active 


42 


School  Discipline. 


beneficence,  or  self-denial,  and  if  it  be  a feeling  not  inconsistent 
with  Christian  humility, — then  do  not  those  theorists  go  too  far,  who 
assert  that  emulation  is  a vicious  principle,  and  ought  not  to  be  used 
as  an  instrument  in  education  ? Admitting  even  that  emulation  may 
be  styled  a selfish  principle, — that  is  to  say,  so  far  selfish  as  to  urge 
us  to  the  greatest  possible  acquisitions  in  knowledge  and  virtue,- — 
does  it  necessarily  imply  an  inward  gratification  at  the  depression  of 
others, — or  a sentiment  of  dislike  at  their  elevation  ? May  not  an 
ardent  desire  to  be  equal  to  the  foremost  in  the  race  of  virtue,  consist 
with  the  benevolent  desire  that  all  our  fellows  may  keep  us  company 
in  the  pursuit  ? In  short  it  appears  to  be  impracticable  to  sustain  a 
logical  argument  on  the  question  of  emulation,  without  a previous 
accurate  definition  of  the  term ; — and,  in  relation  to  our  present  sub 
ject  the  jnain  question  is,  whether  children  ought  to  be  excited  to 
diligence  by  such  arrangements  in  classes  and  recitations,  as  shall 
induce  each  one,  to  compare  his  own  doings  with  those  of  others, — 
and  whether,  in  case  of  inertness  or  negligence,  the  example  of  any 
of  his  class  mates  should  be  held  up  to  his  view  as  a stimulus  to 
greater  exertion.  That  we  cannot  divest  ourselves  entirely  of  a dis- 
position to  make  those  comparisons,  I think  must  be  granted.  If 
they  are  never  to  be  indulged,  we  deprive  ourselves  of  the  benefit  of 
example  ; and  without  the  incitement  of  example,  what  advancement 
would  be  witnessed  either  in  the  corporeal  dexterity,  or  in  the  intel- 
lectual or  moral  attainments  of  children?  Example  or  imitation  is 
the  great  lever  by  which  children  are  led  on  to  almost  every  attain- 
ment beyond  the  impulses  of  mere  animal  instinct. 

But  comparisons,  even  in  the  mind  of  a child,  may  become  invidi- 
ous. They  may  mingle  with  the  baser  passions  of  the  mind,  and  the 
association  may  become  so  familiar,  as  to  injure  the  moral  qualities. 
That  such  a consequence  may  be  avoided, — that  the  generous  feel- 
ings of  many  minds,  and  the  gentleness  of  many  others,  utterly 
repudiate,  in  their  emulous  desires  after  excellence,  every  malign 
sentiment  toward  those  whom  they  are  striving  to  excel,  there  can  be 
no  doubt; — but  it  may  in  turn  be  urged,  that  with  such  generous 
natures  as  these,  the  stimulus  of  emulation,  as  it  is  ordinarily  em- 
ployed in  schools,  is  not  necessary ; that  knowledge  will  be  loved  and 
acquired  for  its  own  sake,  and  from  a sense  of  the  benefit  which  it  is 
capable  of  conferring.  May  we  not  then  arrive  at  the  conclusion, 
that  as  it  respects  the  discipline  of  schools,  a faithful,  talented,  ami 
pious  teacher  has  it  in  his  power,  to  use  the  principle  of  emulation  M'ilh 
such  discrimination  as  to  subserve  a valuable  purpose  without  injury  ; 
and,  that  he  has  it  also  in  hispoivcr,  to  inspire  his  pupils  with  an 
ardent  thirst  for  knowledge  without  resorting  to  such  a stimulus. 

If  we  consult  the  opinions  of  those  who  have  distinguished  them- 
selves as  writers  on  education,  we  shall  find  a contrariety  of  views  on 
this  important  subject.  In  practice,  the  instances,  I apprehend,  are 
comparatively  few,  in  which  schools  and  colleges  have  excluded 
those  arrangements  which  foster  the  principle  of  emulous  exertion. 


School  Discipline, 


43 


The  sentiments  of  Dr.  Lindsley,  as  contained  in  his  letter  wliich  has 
been  read  to  this  board,  are,  however,  very  pointed  on  this  subject, 
and  the  example  and  experience  of  so  able  and  excellent  an  instructor, 
is  almost  sutlicient  to  excite  the  emulation  of  others  to  pursue  the 
same  course.  Examples  of  this  nature  it  is  hoped  will  be  multiplied 
in  our  own  country,  and  that  the  fruits  of  such  experience  will  become 
generally  known. 

There  are  various  other  points  of  consideration  within  the  scope  of 
my  subject,  which  would  admit  of  enlargement; — but  excepting  to 
those  who  are  practically  interested  in  the  details  of  a school,  they 
would  not  afford  sufficient  interest  to  justify  any  further  encroach- 
ment of  the  time  of  this  meeting.  I will  merely  observe,  in  conclu- 
sion, that  the  discipline  of  a school  is  greatly  facilitated  by  the  preva- 
lence of  good  taste,  and  good  domestic  government  in  the  vicinity 
around  it,  and  that  we  may  reasonably  cherish  the  expectation,  that 
the  establishment  .and  support  of  Lyceums  may  become  a powerful 
auxiliary,  in  this  respect,  to  the  cause  of  general  education. 


